How To Prep and Freeze Veggie Burgers: A Tutorial

August 9, 2012Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on August 9, 2012

One of my goals for August (and onward) is to start making big batches of veggie burgers. I’ve been relying far too much on boxed frozen veggie burgers and the cost really starts to add up. I usually buy Amy’s California burgers and they cost between $6-8 for 4 patties, depending on the grocery store. Plus, homemade veggie burgers are just so much better.

On Sunday, I made a double batch of Our Perfect Veggie Burgers and this week I made a double batch of Spicy BBQ Chickpea Burgers. I’ll be bringing a bunch of them to Eric’s big 3-0 birthday party on Saturday. There should be about 40 people!

I must say, these BBQ chickpea burgers are a new fav. The prep is a bit quicker than the other ones and I enjoy them just as much.

(Edited to add: After defrosting the Chickpea BBQ Burgers this weekend, the burgers did not hold well together. They seem to have too much moisture after freezing. I would recommend using the Our Perfect Veggie Burgers recipe, as I have had good results when freezing these.)

Using the Spicy BBQ Chickpea Burger recipe, I doubled all of the ingredients and made 16 patties. I’ve also been making beans from scratch to save more money. I soaked 2 cups of uncooked chickpeas overnight in a huge bowl of water. Once they have soaked, it’s only about 35 minutes or so to cook them on the stovetop (throw in a piece of kombu for easier digestion). You can also make big batches of beans and legumes on the weekend and freeze them for quick weeknight dinners. I’m slowly starting to get into the habit of doing this on a regular basis!

Place everything into a huge bowl. My biggest bowl still was not quite big enough for this double batch, but I managed ok!

Stir in the pepita and sunflower seeds, along with the other ingredients like ground flax, seasonings, breadcrumbs, etc.

Because I made two big pots of chickpeas and brown rice, I decided to throw the rice and chickpeas in the food processor instead of mashing by hand like I did the first time. This saved a lot of time!

Stir it all up – you can even get in there with your hands to mix it up really good! Season it all to taste. Don’t be shy with the salt – this huge bowl of batter needs a good dose to make it all pop. I used 1-1.5 tsp fine grain sea salt.

Now shape the batter into about 16 patties and place on a very large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Cover with wrap.

Clear out room in your freezer and place the baking sheet right in. Freeze the patties for about 45-60 mins or so.

[my freezer needs an intervention…]

Once the raw patties are frozen, place them in a freezer safe bag. If there are any ice crystals on the burgers, scrape them off first. I use Ziplock BPA-free large freezer bags (with the zipper). Don’t forget to wash the bags out and re-use when you are finished with the burgers!

I cut a piece of the parchment to place in between the layers so they don’t stick. Take a straw and suck out the air and seal quickly. Easy!

This is my first time freezing veggie burgers like this (I used to wrap them individually), but I’ve read this method should keep them fresh for up to 1 month in the freezer. Thaw on the counter or in the fridge before pan-frying.

It took me just under 1.5 hours to prep 16 veggie burgers – a lot less time than I thought and I saved quite a bit of money too.

While we’re on the topic of make-ahead foods, what are your favourite dishes to prep in advance? Let me know in the comments!

~~~

It’s now day 9 of The August Challenge and I’ve been documenting my daily feats on the August challenge page to stay accountable. Time is a flyin’! There are so many great comments on the page with many of you sharing your stories. You know, I had my doubts about this challenge from the get-go (if I could even do it and if you’d be interested), but I’m really happy with how things are going. August is shaping up to be a great month! And don’t worry if you are starting late, jump in at any time. I’m already considering doing this into September because I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would.

Haha so funny you should post this today because my post yesterday detailed my efforts to make veggie burgers with a new-to-me squash and they crumbled like crazy!!! They could have probably used some rice and chickpeas like yours, which look great! My favourite make-ahead foods are soups (in the fall). I store them in my freezer and enjoy them all through the winter!

I live for make ahead dishes and I’ve done these veggie burgers several times – they’re delicious!! I also love whipping up a couple batches of salads, like the Detox salad or quinoa salads, to have on hand as quick lunches or dinner sides. The flavors get even better after 24-48 hours in the fridge. Yum, yum!

I need to make these. The ones I’m eating now have some stuff I can’t pronounce and I want to get away from that. Have you ever thought of a Food Saver type vacuum sealer for your frozen stuff? I can’t live without mine!

I love this idea! I want to try to do this for a week and bring them to work to save time and $$. Can these be heated up in a microwave at work? I know they might not be as grilled and cripsy, but would it be okay? Thanks!

Try grilling them first, then freezing or keeping in fridge (depending on how long you are planning on storing them). Then when you micro them at work they may not be crispy, but they’ll still have a bit more ‘cooked flavour’. Or, eat them cold/room temperature.

I’ll have to try this! I hate buying any kind of boxed food, so I’ve never eaten boxed frozen veggie burgers, but sometimes I just don’t have the time to make everything from scratch and these homemade frozen veggie burgers look like a treat! Thanks for this!

I’m a Sunday cooker, so I try to prep everything ahead when I can. This summer has been all about the grill, so I go on a Sunday chopping-spree. I cut up peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms, squash. I put them in gallon size baggies, so they are ready to pull out of the fridge and pop on the grill. I also like to make big batches of condiments to freeze. Kethcup, mustard, bbq sauce, salsa, and marinara are in my freezer now.

I will definitely be trying your recipes for burgers! They look delish!

I make your veggie burgers ALL the time, they are a favorite at my house. I also am always stocking my freezer with food I’ve made ahead. The best way I’ve found for making ahead the veggie burgers is I cook them all on the stove, then after they cool, I freeze them in foil. When we want one (or 2), we just throw it in the oven (in the foil) and wait until it’s heated through. They are still crispy! Thanks for your awesome recipes, you rock! :-)

Just wondering how long the BBQ sauce will last in the fridge? I am making some today. How was the sauce that you froze? Did it taste okay from the freezer? Love your recipes and am really excited to make my own sauce. I totally do not like the smoke taste of bbq sauce and this one has all the ingredients I like :)

i recommend the small split chick peas used in Indian cooking, chana daal. the soak and cook faster, although i wouldn’t cook them, just soak them. the cooking happens on the grill.
flax is a good binder.
i found myself using the left over pulp from my juicer mixed with spices and uncooked beans and seeds. i’ve also used coarse ground dried beans (lentils, peas, rice, etc.), mixed with veggie pulp that is quite moist and then stuffed into a mason jar. the beans start to expand as they absorb the water, but have nowhere to go. the pressing up against the jar walls creates a great texture. very dense.

The burgers look fantastic! Great tips, I too have been buying more frozen than I usually do these days, so this is perfect. I have been making a huge batch of quinoa at the beginning of the week, it works for every meal! This week I cooked a batch of sprouted beans as well, toss them both together with salsa and you’re set!

I really like Amy’s Sonoma veggie burger, but I have to say your perfect veggie burger is my all time fav. They are a bit time consuming, though. I am so excited to try this new and quicker version out. I have never used the straw method for getting excess air out of the bag. Thanks so much for the idea!

Especially since I’m mostly cooking for one, I put a lot of stuff in the freezer. Most muffins and quick breads I make, I put half in the freezer for when I don’t have time to bake. I make veggie broth, applesauce, and veggie burgers to have on hand in the freezer. I recently made pesto for the first time & froze it in ice cube trays. I also have been trying to cook large batches of beans when I have the time & freeze them in smaller portions.
Also, I have a batch of homemade burritos in the freezer (rice/bean/vegetable) that I made to replace the Amy’s frozen ones that I love, but are way too expensive. With an avocado, or some vegan cheese, one is a super quick complete meal for me.

What a great idea. I like to make soups and spicy chilli, dal etc. My husband and I tend to eat boxed frozen patties from the supermarket so I cant wait to try these, last year I got hooked on your veggie spelt patties.

These look great! I love burgers but I hate buying boxed stuff…those boxed veggie burgers have so much sodium!

II’ve been buying greens and veggies on the weekends and prepping them for a week of fantastic salads. Spinach, romaine, arugula. I’m loving my spiralizer for pretty cuts of zucchini, carrots, red onion etc. I just pick and choose and have a different salad every night…so good!

Angela, I bought the cheap one since I’m just starting out on this raw/vegan adventure. The brand is Joyce Chen and I think I paid 25 dollars at Rainbow Grocery here in SF.
http://www.amazon.com/Joyce-Chen-51-0662-Saladacco-Spiral/dp/B0000DDVYE

There are a lot of different ones out priced from 25 to as much as over 100 dollars. I only cook for myself so the Joyce Chen spiralizer is fine for me!

Just like you – I spend way too much on those Amy’s burgers! I love homemade ones but have never tried freezing them. Thanks for the tutorial! I would have never thought to suck the air out of the bags with a straw. Now, can you help me with my chocolate brown kid’s cliff bar habit?? ;-)

We just had baby #3 a couple of months ago, and I had two double batches of “Our Favorite Veggie Burger” in the freezer for when baby came! I’m down to the last two frozen burgers (they’ve kept wonderfully!)… it’s time to freeze a new batch!
Love ALL your recipes! :)

these look so delicious! i’m a huge fan of cook once, eat ten times. i only cook for my husband & i now, but anyone who looked in my freezer would think i’m cooking for a huge family. to me, this method just makes sense. makes life easier when i am working too!

As a few others have said, your timing is perfect! I just said to my husband this morning that we need to make a big batch of veggie burgers asap since we’ve spent too much on Licks burgers over the bbq season. I love your freezing method, definitely less wasteful than individually wrapping each one (as I normally do).

My favourite foods to freeze ahead are mexican dishes…. mostly sweet potato burritos and chickpea quesadillas. I always wind up making way too much, so it’s great to be able to freeze some and enjoy them later.

I assemble the burritos before freezing. I use homemade flour tortillas and fill them with half black bean mixture, and half mashed sweet potato (plus a little cheese), close up the tortilla, and package them individually in aluminum foil so that I can throw them straight into the oven when I’m rushed or too lazy to cook. Once warm I usually throw a little salsa on top. Pretty tasty!

This has absolutley nothing to do with veggie burgers, though the burgers look really awesome and I’ll have to try them. I wanted to get your opinoin on something. I noticed Coconut Sugar at the store the other day and purchased some. It says it is used 1:1 like regular sugar, though I tried it and find it isn’t anywhere near as sweet as regular sugar, but still good. I have read a lot of articles lately about the dangers of sugars and i am trying to use less, as well as find acceptable alternatives. I wondered if you have ever used coconut sugar and if you find it an acceptable alternative to sugar? I am trying to find a sugar that has a very low fructose level. I appreciate your comments. Thanks

I LOVE your veggie burgers! I always freeze a bunch when I make them. My new favorite is making lasagna rolls and freezing them. That way I can take out just enough for me and my husband without having to bake a whole lasagna! Gotta love the ideas from pinterest :)

Best prep food: salads — I layer them in a container or bag with the heaviest ingredients on the bottom (usually 3 bags for a week), and then just shake it up at the office, add some dressing and I have lunch.

Great idea for prepping ahead. I need to do this sort of thing before I return to work full time next week–the school year is about to start and my meal-prep time is going to become much less than it’s been.

OK, on behalf of hungry vegans everywhere who actually cannot cook worth a damn (that is, me: I can’t seem to concoct anything that tastebuds beside my own find acceptable) I have to thank you heartily for this veggie burger recipe!! It has never failed me yet, and best of all, my very fussy boyfriend eats them with relish (literally and figuratively). I have a batch sitting in the freezer and I feel very smug about it. Normal, blah-tasting burgers are so pricey! So, thank you for all your trial-and-error efforts in this regard.

You are a genius! I really need to start making meals in advance like this! So glad for the recipe too…I never seem to be able to bring myself to buy the veggie burgers at the store. They’re so expensive and full of preservatives and who knows what else!

That’s for sharing!
I am starting to get more organized by making double batches if recipes and storing them in the freezing. Soup is a regular , being winter over in Australia.
Storing veggies burgers sounds perfect for mid week meals!
Xx

Wow, those are some gorgeous veggie burger pictures!! Who knew food could look so beautiful??:D I love making curries and other Indian-spiced foods ahead of time; the flavors seem to develop SO much more after spending a night in the fridge. Also, I often make a big batch of brown rice in our cast-iron pot, and then keep it in the fridge to use for stir-fries and other recipes using rice.

Great idea to freeze your own! I love freezing fresh fruit for smoothies, and containers of soup when I make a big batch… sadly, I have a side-by-side fridge/freezer, and there is NO room to place a cookie sheet! It’s the worst design imaginable, imo… just ordered a new fridge with a top freezer, so pretty soon I’ll be on my way to freezing anything and everything I can think of! :)

Whenever I make pumpkin-black bean enchiladas I make single-servings in small freezer-safe corningware dishes. That way I can just pull them out and stick them in the oven. I put them in before I turn on the oven, that way they can defrost a bit while the oven preheats. :)

Angela – I must again remark that your spicy chickpea burgers are my all time favorites…plus I finally mastered the art of veg burger making w/your initial tutorial. I think hand mashing is a major key. I tried a variation of these – azuki beans, sweet onion, mushroom – w/most of the other ingredients remaining the same and they were really great too. These appeal to me more than your original favs b/c for me they offer a better balance of carb/fat/pro than the seemingly more nut heavy ones. plus the spice profile of this one is simply perfect. I have a bunch in the freezer too and they taste just as good reheated. Your guests are in for a treat!

I LOVE your blog angela. (even though I almost never comment.) And I find you super inspiring. Also its my birthday and I just had a delicious margarita. Your original veggie burgers are always a hit when I make them.

Love those perfect veggie burgers! I haven’t made them in a while, but this post made me want to soon! I think my favorite things to make and freeze are marinara sauces and pestos. Anything that requires me cleaning the food processor, I like to eliminate. Such a pain in the arse! :)

I love the idea of making these burgers ahead of time and having them available at a moment’s notice. However, the future dietitian in me is forcing me to comment that food shouldn’t be thawed on the counter, use the fridge as suggested. :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
This tutorial was much-needed. I’ve been relying way too much on boxed burgers lately too. As soon as I have a free afternoon, I’m definitely going to make a double-batch of homemade ones. I can’t wait!

These look insanely good, I really must get round to making my own veggie burgers :D

I love make-ahead meals. Both my sister and myself have coeliac disease, and are both vegan, so we never want our family to have to worry about cooking for us. It’s great when we’re both here, but if it’s just me I often get a bit lazy about cooking, especially if I’ve been working all day.

Some of my freeze aheads include fruit, butternut squash (it’s such a faff to prepare that I prep a few at the same time and freeze it chopped and ready for use), mexican lasagne, and muffins :)

Hi Angela,
Friends of mine made these veggie burgers and I thought if they like them, I’m sure we would too.I made a small batch which turned out 6 burgers and I foze the remaining 4. We BBQ the others and they were really good BBQed. I found they tasted better on BBQ than cooking them on stovetop. This will be a repeat recipe in our house. Hubby and I are always looking for meatless healthy protein alternatives – which are also quick and tasty. Thanks Angels!

I just love the idea of doing anything at all to get ahead and stay organized! Those burgers look delicious!

As for your freezer, yes, it DOES need an intervention! LOL! Have you thought of putting in the shelves that run side to side and also stack on top of each other? Then you can have room for everything but still see it all and it is organized neatly!

Btw, Angela, I know you have been talking about overcoming fears lately and I think what you are doing and sharing is outstanding. I wondered if you have ever heard of a flower essence called Mimulus. It is the remedy for fears and anxiety. There are some powerful testimonials out there for how it has helped people with anxiety. I though you might be interested in knowing about it! Here are a couple links if you want to know about it:

Great post Angela – I love to do make ahead veggie burgers – and I love that when we do these things (soak beans, cook from scratch, reuse plastic bags…), we save money, our health and the environment in one fell swoop! My favorite things to make ahead are things that can be ‘convenience foods’ but healthier – veggie burgers, muffins, hashbrowns, beans, rolls, rice, quinoa etc – not full meals (my freezers are so full – I do not know how I could fit casseroles in there!)- but things I can pull out, chop some veggies and voila – a meal!

Julie and I really like to make soups in advance and freeze them. We also love making huge bowls of bean salads or grain salads and taking it for lunches throughout the week. We also almost always have some kind of hummus or dip in the fridge for quick and easy snacking! the veggie burgers look delicious, by the way- we can never get enough veggie burgers :)

These look absolutely amazing!! As a vegetarian, I am always turned off to making veggie burgers at home. Not because they don’t look or sound delicious (because they always do…), but because I just don’t have the time and/or patience when I get home from work to do all of the prep work. I don’t know why I have never thought to make a huge batch like this and freeze them!! I am so excited to try this for next week :)

I’m totally with you on the prep work! Fighting rush hour traffic and then cooking a super-involved meal just isn’t always an option. It’s no wonder crock pot meals are a weekly staple at my house haha :)

i too like to make large pots of beans for the freezer. i freeze them in batches on a cookie sheet so they’re individually frozen, then store them all in 1 big bag in the freezer. that way i can take just what i need, leave the rest for later & don’t need to eat the same thing for days on end (it’s just me & the cat won’t touch them!). i’m not fond of veggie burgers but perhaps i’ll give these a try since they’re getting rave reviews!?

Believe it or not but your Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese freezes very well. I do a vegan freezer exchange with friends once a month and it is a favorite. Freezing Chinese dumplings, vegan ravioli and pierogi works wonderfully. They are all fairly labor intensive to create but make an easy side dish to pull out and cook however many you need.

What a great recipe!! This is just what I needed to leave my parents with some freezer-ready veggie burgers when I head back to college in a week! My favorite dish to prep in advance is probably frozen fruits for smoothies, shakes, soft-serve, etc. I’ll never starve if there’s a banana close by (preferably with some cocoa powder and vanilla extract too)! haha

This is so helpful! I have only made my own veggie burgers once, and they were fabulous. However, the hubs and I agreed that it just took waaaaaay too long to do. Perhaps this will help in the future. Thanks!

Your burgers look great! I love freezer cooking – actually started a blog on vegan freezer cooking. My favorite right now is mashed potatoes – they freeze great, and I make them in individual servings so we can just take one or two out and have a dinner side dish.

Great recipe! I’ve been getting into freezer cooking too and through some trial and error have discovered crumbly veggie burgers are great in a wrap or over a salad. I made your lemon rosemary chick pea burger, loved the flavor but they refused to stay in a party so into a wrap it went. oh em gee… for supper tonight is avocado pasta!!

It’s now 12:37 am and I have been browsing your blog for new recipes ideas for the past hour and a half…It’s not the first time and it is definitely not the last time. As I browse through all of your blog posts and the delicious mouth-watering pictures you take (by the way you are great at photography!), I can’t help but think “Gosh, I can’t wait to acquire such skills in food photography and recipes creation!”.

You are SUCH an inspiration and such a positive “glowing” light on the blogosphere.
I just had to come and leave a comment to let you know that it has now been about two years that I follow your blog and you do not cease to amaze me and make me hungry with all of your posts :p. I have tried many of the recipes you share with us and I sure will continue.

I hope you don’t mind if I share some of the recipes I take from your blog (giving you credit of course for the inspiration) on my Facebook page. I just launched it recently and I must say once I launch my blog, I hope the pictures and quality of the posts will be as great as yours ;)

Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing, inspiring and continuing to make our mouth water with every single picture you take :)

Much much appreciated,
Take care,

Sarah.

PS: here is my page if you ever feel like checking it out: www.facebook.com/sarahsdeliciousobsessions ;)

I can’ t wait to try a batch of these delicious-looking burgers. Maybe someone could answer my most burning question about these. Can I microwave them at work? Or even at home? I don’t like to heat up my kitchen with the oven in 103 degrees (outdoors) in Texas, I don’t often fire up my grill, and I don’t typically even pull out a frying pan. You can call me lazy…… So, just wondering. Thanks!

I would try the toaster oven over a microwave oven. I have an idea… you should try it, then let us know. I’m sure they’ll taste the same, although consistency might suffer a little bit… OR, cook them prior to freezing, let them cool before freezing and the microwave should be a breeze.

i did this when i was pregnant thinking that once the baby came there would be little to know time for good healthy meals. I would freeze then put the cooking instructions ziplock freezer bag in case my husband had any questions. Plus I cook a batch of beans & rice/quinoa/couscous weekly to add to other recipes during the week. I really helps when you need a quick recipe and i don’t like using canned anything!thanks

This is great, thanks for sharing! I’ve been making your awesome burgers for awhile now, and I freeze them too. I just bake them all first, and then freeze in the zip lock. They’re great for work lunches because you just pop it out of the freezer and then it’s thawed for lunch…great with rice or quinoa!

I love the idea of freezing a large batch of veggie burgers. I have been buying too many boxed ones as well. Besides being expensive, I’m not a fan of the salt content in them. Thanks for always inspiring me!

My boyfriend and I have switched to a vegan diet just over a month ago. We made these together last night and they were so yummy. Definately going to be a regular item in my new way of life. Thank you so much for your website. It has been my bible and guiding light over the last month. Thanks from 2 Canadians in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Love your blog. I cook big batches of rice and (separately) beans in my oven while I’m either at work, or sleeping. My oven is programable. I’ll soak the beans overnight (in a big stock pot), dump the soak water and refill with fresh, put it all in the oven, and program the oven to cook for 2 hours at 300 degrees, turning itself off when done. By the time I get home, they are cooled and ready to drain and package up in ziplock baggies to freeze. I cook up a big casserole dish of rice each week in a similar way, which we then use to eat throughout the week.

I just made these veggie burgers last night and oh wow!! They ARE the perfect burgers, stick together perfectly and the nuts added nice flavor. I will def be making these again and again. Thanks for the recipe!

Thank you for all your great recipes!!! I have two teenage girls heading back to school and i would like to put a bunch of lunches into the freezer. My picky daughter wants soups but she doesnt like beans, I have found in the past that potatoes and pasta go mushy in frozen soups once they are thawed. Do you know of any tips for freezing soups or any other options for frozen lunches?? Thanks

They not only look great they taste great! Just finished making a double batch and putting some in the fridge for dinner tonight and some in the freezer for the tailgate next week. I did replace the brown rice for quinoa and it worked perfect! Awesome recipe, love your site and your recipes!

How much longer do you suggest baking the frozen veggie burgers? I’ve tried baking mine a few times, but I haven’t found the perfect baking time. And I don’t want to thaw out the veggie burgers because I think it defeats the purpose of frozen convenience (call me lazy if you want lol).

Glad to see you have so many lovely followers!
Yeas, don’t buy prefab. food. Buy organic and prepare everything yourself.
That way you know what you are eating.
Avoid the gm foods.
Personally I would use a dehydrator rater then a freezer. That way you maintain your nutrients and get a better pH balance.
Your doing a very good job of it! Good luck with the follow up.

Thats such an amazing idea Angela…It looks so yummy! You dont have enough freezer space. Left to me I would like to have a double door deep freeze…I freeze just about anything…from dals, to tikka gravy to bread dough…

I love these. I sometimes add organic taco seasoning, black beans, and trader joes tomatoless corn salsa for a southwest flair, and then I will cook and crumble them over a salad for a taco salad type effect.

I make double batches of these Perfect Veggie Burgers and I actually cook them in a nonstick pan before freezing them. I dont like sunflower seeds so I use pecans or even chopped almonds and its still fabulous. I make a wonderful snack for my seventeen year old son with these by taking Romain lettuce leaves and smearing them with a mixture of Veganaise and nutritional yeast . I then lay thin strips of purple onion on the leaves and top it with the pan warmed veggie burgers cut into thick strips . Its refreshing on a warm day and if you like more crunch you can use double leaves. After trying many homemade veggie burger recipes these are hands down the best and I will never use any other now that I have found these!

These are my favourite veggie burger recipe! I made one batch and just kept them in the fridge and used them within a few days, cooking them off the day I’d have them. I’m not sure if someone’s mentioned this, and I know you said you had trouble with these falling apart after freezing, so I cooked the next batch I made, let them all cool and come to room temperature, and then froze them. Just have to reheat them now, and even in the microwave the outside still has a bit of crispness too it. Just wanted to let you know another method that worked! I just had surgery on my wrist, and cooking is very difficult, so making these burgers ahead of time and freezing them has really been saving me from endless soup and take out! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!

I am constantly making double batches of things and freezing half of them, so my family can have fast and easy (and non-processed food) meals in the future! Soups, stews, curries, muffins, pancakes, waffles, etc. The one we use most is: fully cooking waffles in huge batches, freezing them, then popping them in the toaster for breakfast to defrost and heat them. So much better than store bought frozen waffles, cheaper, and I can control the ingredients and minimize sugar content, since I don’t like feeding my toddler a lot of sugar first thing in the morning.

I’m so glad I stumbled across this recipe! My mouth is watering just looking at this recipe! I love freezing meals; for now I make basic breakfast burritos and freeze them for an easy grab-n-go in the morning. Can’t wait to make these this weekend!

Hi I’ve been following your blog about two weeks now and it’s been an incredible inspiration. I have been living in the kitchen making all sorts of recipes, including a double batch of the chickpea burgers which taste amazing! Thank you for sharing all your recipes. We are not a vegan family, but due to my sons food allergies I’ve learned to cook so many things from scratch to safely feed him. In our journey to eliminating dairy egg and nuts from our diet I’ve founds that the vegan lifestyle just suits us. I especially appreciate how easy it is to navigate your site and the fact that you include nut free alternatives. I have already made so many of your recipes, all fantastic. THANK YOU!!!

I will definately have to try these “make ahead and freeze” ideas. I have a bunch of leftover cooked lentils I’m trying to use up. Supper has been served and I don’t have much time after work to make them fresh so this would be a great idea.

One of my favorite things I like to make ahead is homemade vegetable broth. As I go along my daily routine, making salads or soups or any other recipe, I put them ends or “bruised” produce in a ziplock baggie and freeze them. This includes broccoli ends, carrot ends, celery ends, etc. I may even buy some produce from the clearance section if they are jusst beyond ripe. Then I add my seasonings like garlic and herbs from the garden and boil it all for about an hour (or simmer for less). I always put my steamer basket in the bottom of the pan so when it’s time to clean it out, most of it comes out with the basket. This reduces the straining. Then I use empty yogurt containers or freeze in ice cube trays. WAY better than canned…

These were delicious! I froze a batch and they came out well. Has anyone tried to make fruit patties and if so can you share the recipe. We received a huge fruit hamper from igiftFRUITHAMPERS.com.au and need to use the fruit up :)

I made these and put them in the freezer. Then this morning took out some to thaw for dinner later (about 8 hours) I thawed them in the fridge.
Okay 8 hours later they were still solid as a rock!. They were quite thick so maybe that’s why. I had to leave them thawing, and won’t be able to use them til tomorrow night. Is it okay to leave food thawing so long in the fridge?